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The Town of Smithtown Department of Environment and Waterways collected over 29 tons of waste at the Hazardous Household Waste event. On Saturday, April 23, 603 Smithtown households participated in safely disposing 58,200 pounds of toxic items, which are prohibited in regular curbside waste pickups.

“The sheer weight in toxic products collected over the weekend corroborates just how important protecting the environment is to our residents,” said Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R). “As a community we’ve become more proactive, removing old and harmful products from the home and checking labels at the store. I’d like to commend our team of Environmental experts, Municipal Services Facility employees, the Department of Environment and Waterways and Public Safety for conducting what was a seamless event hosted for the Smithtown community.”

Smithtown Municipal Services Facility employees worked in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Waterways Environmental Director David Barnes and Solid Waste Coordinator Mike Engelmann to safely secure over 28 55-gallon drums, 15 one-cubic-yard boxes, one miscellaneous container for specialized hazardous waste, and two full 30-cubic-yard roll-off containers loaded up with paints/solvents, etc. The exact weight collected was 29.1 tons (scale house net) in hazardous materials. Materials were collected and manifested for disposal by Radiac Research Corp. In addition to residents dropping off hazardous household waste, many circled their vehicles around to pick up bags of free mulch on the way out.

A portion of the wastes collected for manifested disposal include: waste oil based paints/flammable paints, gasoline, paint thinners, waste gases, petroleum distillates, flammable solids, oxidizers liquids and solids, sodium/potassium nitrates, acids, corrosives, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, misc. toxic liquids (i.e. Chlordane, etc.) and solids, lacquers, lithium batteries, battery acids and various other toxic compounds.

Covanta provided a $5 gift card to Home Depot to residents as a reward for recycling potentially harmful batteries instead of placing them in the trash. Covanta plans to be present at the July and October events to target other hazardous wastes, in addition to batteries.

The next household hazardous waste collection events are scheduled for Saturday, July 9 and Saturday, Oct. 1. These events are for Smithtown Township residents only. Proof of residency will be strictly enforced

Did you know?

Smithtown residents can also dispose of electronic waste, free of charge, at the Town Recycling Center (also located at 85 Old Northport Road). Electronic waste such as computers, printers, TV’s, monitors, automotive and household batteries can be dropped off during regular hours for proper recycling.

This is a free service. Proof of residency is required. 

Mulch is also available free of charge to residents. Smithtown residents can line up for pre-packaged bags of mulch with a maximum of 10 bags per visit. The town offers free loading of loose mulch into your pick-up or dump truck — cover required